FooDSFOOD DEMAND SURVEY

Volume 2, Issue 10: February 13, 2015

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

FooDS tracks consumer preferences and sentiments on the safety, quality, and price of food at home and away from home with particular focus on meat demand. FooDS is a monthly on-line survey with a sample size of at least 1,000 individuals, weighted to match the US population in terms of age, gender, education and region of residence. See the online technical document for more details.

About the Survey

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) for both beef products (steak and hamburger) jumped in February as did WTP for deli ham. WTP for chicken wing decreased by 12%, and WTP for WTP for chicken breast was virtually unchanged. WTP for all meat products, except chicken wings, remain higher relative to this time last year.

MEAT DEMAND

Food expenditures, particularly for food away from home, were up in February. The rise in away from home expenditures comports well with recent Census Burea data showing a recent spike in retails sales from food services and drinknig places. Consumers expect slightly higher meat prices this month. Expected purchasing patterns remain similar to previous months, with an increase in planned purchases of all meat products.

FOOD EXPENDITURES

Willingness-to-Pay

Steak Chicken Breast

Hamburger Pork Chop Deli Ham Chicken Wing

Beans & Rice

Pasta

Last Year:Febrary 2014

$6.87 $5.04 $4.06 $3.47 $1.97 $2.52 $2.04 $3.18

Last Month:January 2015

$7.28 $5.09 $4.14 $4.04 $2.41 $2.55 $2.33 $3.25

February 2015 $7.92 $5.05 $4.54 $3.81 $2.78 $2.23 $2.31 $2.97

% change(Jan.-Feb.)

8.79% -0.79% 9.66% -5.69% 15.35% -12.55% -0.86% -8.62%

Current weekly at home

Current weekly away from home

Anticipated change in at home in next 2 weeks

Anticipated change away from home in next 2 weeks

February 2014 $94.37 $48.81 -0.13% -1.32%

January 2015 $92.76 $49.41 -0.75% -2.06%

February 2015 $94.57 $53.90 -0.08% -1.32%

% change(Jan.-Feb.)

1.95% 9.09% -------- --------

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Consumer Expectations FooDS Page 2

GMO, E. coli, and Salmonella remained the most visible issues in the news over the past two weeks. The largest percentage jump in awareness from January to February was for cloning, GMO, and farm animal welfare. The largest percentage fall from January to February was for Salmonella and battery cages. Salmonella, E. coli and hormones were ranked as the top three concerns during February. The largest percent increase from last month was for lean fine textured ground beef. The largest percent decrease in concern was for antibiotics.

AWARENESS & CONCERN TRACKING

Awareness of Food Issues

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Concern for Food Issues FooDS Page 3

Taste, safety, and price remained consumers’ most important values when purchasing foods. Consumer values remained similar to those in past months, with an increase in perceived value of appearance and animal welfare and a decrease in perceived value of nutrition. Similar to previous months, consumers reported that their main challenge was finding affordable foods that fit within their budget. Finding time to cook at home and finding food children will eat remained the least pressing challenges. There was a 5.6% decrease in the challenge of losing weight from January to February. 6.82% of participants reported having food poisoning, a 38.9% increase from January.

GENERAL FOOD VALUES

Consumer Challenges Consumer Values

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

FooDS Page 4

Two new ad hoc questions were added to the survey this month.Following up on the attention garnered by the question asked last month, we posed the following question in isolation: “Do you support or oppose mandatory labels on foods that would indicate the presence or absence of DNA?” Despite the slight change in wording and framing, we found a very similar result. 83.46% of respondents stated that they support mandatory labels on foods that would indicate the presence or absence of DNA. Secondly, participants were asked: “Which of the following statements do you believe to be true or false?”. Only 36.78% of participants thought it was true that “The US government requires foods with DNA to be labeled as such”. Just under half of respondents, 47.86%, believed it to be true that “all vegetables contain DNA”. 58.6% of participants thought it was true that “yeast for brewing beer contains living organisms”.

AD HOC QUESTIONS

Consumer Beliefs on Genes and DNA